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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28843878">Buried Truth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr'>schrijverr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mechanisms (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Buried Alive, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Happy Ending, Hes Fine, Temporary Character Death, The Moon War, and all that, jonny gets cruched under some boulders, like can u imagine this is how you found out about your immortal buddy, no previous explanation whatsoever, they get free, this is also kinda funny in my mind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:34:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,680</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28843878</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>During a moonquake Jonny and Tim get buried under the rubble together. Jonny tells Tim about his immortality as they try and dig themselves out and they grow closer.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jonny d'Ville &amp; Gunpowder Tim, Tim/Bertie - background mentioned</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Buried Truth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>You can also find this work on my tumblr, which is @schrijverr as well. Hope you pop in and say hi, cause I'd love to talk to y'all!! :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moonquakes, no one had told them anything about fucking moonquakes when they’d signed up. </p><p>They didn’t tell them about a lot of thing of course, but Tim was actually pissed off at this, because you didn’t think of moonquakes when you thought of a war. Most he could have come up with if he’d thought through the patriotic haze, but this? This fucking sucked.</p><p>The moonquakes wouldn't have been so bad if they weren’t fighting in literal tunnels, so every single shudder of the moon could be the one that buried them.</p><p>Tim hated it, he would rather be microwaved or chocking on gas.</p><p>He had told the others that one day, earning him a slap from Bertie, who’d told him he shouldn’t die at all, but Jonny had agreed: “Yeah, getting buried alive fucking sucks, not a pleasant way to go.”</p><p>Which had been a strange way to phrase that, but Tim had just been glad to have someone on his side to complain to about the moonquakes.</p><p>Something he was doing right now, while they marched: “I just don’t get why they didn’t tell us any sooner, you know? I mean, of course, I get why they didn’t put it into their propaganda, but at least mention it during training instead of explaining it when we first experience one.”</p><p>“Are you still on about that, love?” Bertie rolled his eyes fondly.</p><p>“Yes. Yes, I am. I am British, okay, we don’t do quakes in any way, shape or form and it fucking sucked and I hate every second of every moonquake and the least they could have done was give us a warning beforehand.” Tim pouted indignantly.</p><p>Jonny was once again on his side: “He’s right, I have lived most of my life on a solid spaceship, the worst thing is turbulence, not the roof crashing down. A boulder crushing you fucking hurts and I do not need that in my life right now.”</p><p>“Exactly, thank you, Jonny.” Tim gave Bertie a triumphant look, again ignoring the strange phrasing of Jonny, just chalking it up to the weirdness that was him.</p><p>“You two, I swear, one braincell.” Bertie sighed.</p><p>“I don’t know if that was an insult, but-” Tim squinted at Bertie.</p><p>“I do, it fucking was, I’m not associated with this dumb fuck.” Jonny interjected, earning a squawk from Tim who immediately went to defend his honor.</p><p>They weren’t even a few meters further, still squabbling, when the ground around them started to rumble and shake. The company cursed and tried to find a good refuge spot. </p><p>Tim had been carrying a torch and now shone it on the ceiling, to try and gauge, where it would be coming down and where they would be safe. The light hit a quickly loosening boulder directly above Jonnys head.</p><p>He cursed again and jumped, trying to get Jonny out of the way, knowing he most likely wouldn't make it.</p><p>His hands made contact and Jonny let out a confused yell, but he would not simply budge. It seemed he had quickly figured out what was happening and instead turned them, mid-fall, so that he would be on top, shielding Tim from the down poor of rocks by taking the blows himself.</p><p>Tim was about to shout at Jonny, when a rock hit him and the world went black.</p><p>When he came to, the world was still black, but in the familiar dark way of the tunnels he’d gotten used to. </p><p>It took a moment before he had adjusted enough to try and take in his surroundings. He was lying in the sand of the moon, but the usually cramped tunnels were even tighter. The events from earlier came back with that thought and he realized he must be in a small space underneath the rocks that had fallen on them.</p><p>Them. Fuck, Jonny.</p><p>He tried to move his hands, so that he could feel if the thing, presumably Jonny, on top of him had a heartbeat he could feel.</p><p>After some wiggling he managed to put one hand on what he thought was Jonnys chest, right where his heart should be. His blood froze in his veins. Jonnys chest was cold to the touch and there was no thumping to be felt.</p><p>It almost seemed impossible. Tim had seen Jonny survive so much of this war, both suicidal rescue missions and his own stupidity, so the thought that he might not be there anymore was jarring to say the least.</p><p>He laid there for a second after that revelation of Jonnys death. It hadn’t really sank in yet and he was mostly shocked, unable to move or think.</p><p>When his mind had pushed it away enough, he started to check how hurt he was and how likely it was that he would ever get out of here, or if he would die a slow death by himself. It seemed he was incredibly lucky (because Jonny took the stones, his mind helpfully supplied), because he was mostly in tact, save for some bruises and scrapes.</p><p>He should be unharmed if he was able to get out, which was another hurdle. The others would assume they’d died and maybe even leave them here, no rescue mission for corpses. God, Bertie must be so upset right now.</p><p>The thought of Bertie lodged something in his throat and he wanted nothing more than to be held in his strong arms, while he whispered to him that everything was going to be alright. Jonny would gag at them and make a face, but they would mind.</p><p>A single tear slid down his face, because that would never happen again. </p><p>Jonny was gone, he was buried under a pile of rocks and Bertie probably thought they were dead and no one would come for them.</p><p>God, Bertie, the man would be heartbroken, but they’d force him to march on all on his own. Tim knew he would break if the roles were reversed and he feared the worst as the seconds ticked by in the dark hole under the rubble.</p><p>At one point he had started to dig himself out halfheartedly, but he’d quickly given up and had started to yell, but had stopped that after a long while of nothing as well.</p><p>He was just lying there, accepting his slow death, when the form on top of him suddenly jolted, nearly startling him into a heart attack.</p><p>Jonny gasped right in his ear and then started to cough into it, much to Tims disgust: “Gross, mate.”</p><p>“What?” Jonny sounded like death, which was probably what happened, or at least he had been close to it.</p><p>With that reminder, Tim shrieked: “How are you alive?” </p><p>“Luck?”</p><p>“I felt your heart, it was cold and not beating!”</p><p>“It never beats.”</p><p>“THAT’S NOT HELPFUL!”</p><p>Jonny was quiet for a moment, then he casually asked: “Where even are we?”</p><p>Tim opened and closed his mouths for a few times with the sudden topic change, then he sighed and said: “Under the rubble, we got buried during the quake.”</p><p>“That fucking sucks.” Jonny answered after a beat.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve made peace with dying, because I think the others have already moved on. So, coming back from the brink of death isn’t going to do you any good.” Tim told him.</p><p>“I didn’t come back from the brink of death, I’m too cool to survive.” Jonny replied.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I fully died and came back. I’m immortal.” Jonny said.</p><p>“You’re what?” Tims voice was an octave higher.</p><p>“Immortal.” Jonny repeated, “It usually is pretty handy, but I’m not looking forwards to dying a bunch of times here, before I get out and if you die, your body will rot and it will stink.”</p><p>“That’s- You’re being really casual about the chance of me dying, you know that?” Tim told him.</p><p>He could feel Jonny shrug as he said: “Hey, almost no one I meet will outlive me, I came to terms with you or Bertie dying before I even knew you all that well. It happens, but if it will also stink, it’ll double suck, you know?”</p><p>Tim thought about that, then replied: “That’s sounds really fucking sad and I really don’t want to pity you on my deathbed, you’re too annoying for that.”</p><p>“It’s not your deathbed.” Tim could feel the eyeroll in Jonnys voice.</p><p>“Why not? We’re trapped here, we’ve been here for a long time and nothing has happened yet. Lets face it, the others are already gone.” Tim sighed, defeated.</p><p>“Well, I’m not wasting a good war stuck under some rubble, so as long as I’m alive, which is going to be forever, we’re getting out of here.” Jonny said stubbornly, “Besides, I’ve seen Bertie, that guy has a too big case of hearteyes to leave you here, so you better buckle up and start helping me dig us out of here.”</p><p>Tim felt Jonnys elbows dig into his stomach and let out a groan, while the annoying asshole on top of him wiggled around until he could start moving rocks from on top of them to the small space they occupied.</p><p>“What the fuck are you doing?” Tim hissed.</p><p>“Getting us out of here.” Jonny answered.</p><p>“Yeah, but one mistake and the whole thing comes crashing down on us, you moron.” Tim exclaimed.</p><p>“And I’ll live and shield you, we’ll be fine.” Jonny waved his concern away, “Now, start helping me move this and start yelling. They’re far more likely to come to your aid then mine.”</p><p>“What makes you say that?” Tim asked, concerned for his friend, as much as he tried to deny they even were friends.</p><p>“Oh, they all still owe me money from when I cheated them out of it with some card games.” Jonny explained.</p><p>“You menace.” Tim grinned, before starting to yell and help Jonny out.</p><p>An hour later and they had moved about half a meter. It was tiring work and slow going. Where at first they had worked with vigor and yelled loudly, they now were going even slower and working in silence.</p><p>Tim was just about to tell Jonny they should give up when a rock above them came loose and crashed down on Jonny. It was too dark to see, but Tim could hear a sickening crunch as Jonny went limp above him once more.</p><p>He swallowed heavily and tried not to think about the fact that this was the second time today that the other had given his life to shield Tim and also the second time Tim had the corpse of his friend lying on top of him.</p><p>It took a few seconds before Tim had gathered himself enough to remove the rock from Jonnys head. They’d gotten lucky enough that it wasn’t an important rock that kept their ceiling in tact, but just a stray one that had gotten loose in their effort to get free.</p><p>While he worked he kept repeating to himself: He’ll get back, he’s fine, he might be dead, but he’ll come back again, he’s fine, he’s immortal, it’s all fine.</p><p>However, that was hard to believe and with every passing second that Jonny lay there as still as the corpse he currently was, Tim got more worried.</p><p>He’d just stopped digging them out to try and wake Jonny up, illogical as that might be, when Jonny stirred again. </p><p>Just like before he suddenly jolted, before gasping a big breath and coughing. Once he’d gathered his bearings, he sighed and casually said: “That never gets pleasant. Any news about our freedom yet?”</p><p>“No,” Tim answered with a tight voice, “not yet.”</p><p>“Ugh, why can’t they work harder, I hate this.” Jonny complained, even if he did go back to digging them out immediately.</p><p>Suddenly the blood in Tims veins froze with a realization he didn’t have before and in a small voice he asked: “What if they got buried too? What if they didn’t make it?”</p><p>Jonny stilled his actions at the question. The silence that hung over them was tense and heavy, it was clear that Jonny hadn’t even thought about the others dying, probably so used to them coming back or him not caring.</p><p>“They’ll be fine.” it was curt and Tim wasn’t sure if it was him or Jonny himself that the other was trying to convince.</p><p>Jonny started digging again, this time more urgently and with less jokes or comments. It was just putting away stone after stone in the dark, hoping that against their worst thoughts that grim possibility wasn’t true.</p><p>If the slow going was annoying before, it was infuriating and frustrating now. Inch by inch they moved closer to freedom, closer to an answer about the faith of their fellow soldiers, of Bertie. This time, however, neither slowed down, even as they got tired and it seemed like they made no progress.</p><p>With every rock, Tims lost hope.</p><p>With every inch, Jonny heart hardened.</p><p>In the darkness it was hard to picture anything positive ever coming, there was no light at the end of the tunnel.</p><p>Tim chocked out: “I don’t think they made it.”</p><p>“Don’t-” Jonny said accusatory, “Just don’t, you don’t get to say that, okay? You’re the mortal one here, I’m told it gives you endurance and hope, so keep hoping, you motherfucker.”</p><p>He couldn’t see Jonnys expression in the dark and he didn’t know if he should be grateful for it. Throughout the whole war Jonny had been a rock of unending optimism and fun to cling onto when things seemed hopeless, but now he sounded so vulnerable as well and Tim didn’t know if he wanted to see the other being anything but fun, even if it might be manic.</p><p>So, he just kept working and started yelling again, hoping that they would hear a response. He called out: “Bertie? Bertie? Anyone? Sarge? Hello? We’re here!”</p><p>Tim took a break to take another deep breath to continue shouting when he faintly heard a very familiar voice call out: “Tim? Tim is that you?”</p><p>“Bertie! Bertie, over here!” Tim yelled, shaking Jonny slightly in excitement.</p><p>Jonny rolled his eyes and said: “Yeah, yeah, I heard him too,” before yelling: “Start digging, you asshole. We’re fucking stuck here.”</p><p>Soon after they heard more exclaims, before rocks started to shift above their heads. It still look a while, but then the final rock got lifted and they found Bertie grinning at them, before paling.</p><p>“What? What’s wrong, dear?” Tim immediately asked.</p><p>“You two are covered in blood, are you hurt?” Bertie asked, concern lacing his voice.</p><p>With the light Jonny and Tim now could look at each other properly. Indeed they were covered in blood and dust. Jonnys hair was absolutely caked and Tim knew he would be complaining about it for days.</p><p>“It looks worse than it is.” he told Bertie instead, the truth would come later, when they were clean and safe, “We got lucky.”</p><p>“And that you most certainly did.” the sarge stepped up, crossing her muscled arms, “If this weren’t such an important route, we wouldn't have even tried to dig you out. How you even survived in the first place in a miracle.”</p><p>“Yeah, if that’s what you want to call it.” Jonny shrugged, before holding out his hands and asking: “Is anyone going to get me out of here now?”</p><p>After that it all happened quite quickly. They were out the dirt and into a convoy back to camp, Bertie by their side, then into the cleaning area, before finally being able to rest.</p><p>He had been right that Jonny would complain about his hair, but he also found that he didn’t seem to mind as much as before. He’d already had a soft spot for Jonny, annoying as he might be, and it seemed it had only grown. The bastard. </p><p>Tim was going to regret this, he could feel it in his bones, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. The little shit could use someone to watch his immortal back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was increadibly close to burying and killing Bertie, but that wouldn't fit the story, but it did cross my mind to just kill him. It would fit the criteria of muddy, pointless and quite frankly hilarious, in my humble opinion.</p><p>Travis came up with the moonquake idea and he was so kind to let me use his idea for this, hope I did it justice.</p><p>Also to the person who commented about their comanding officer mechsona on one of my previous Moon War fics, congrats, the sarge here was loosely based on your comment, since she sounded cool af.</p><p>Comments make my day and Kudos are v epic, so thanks so much for leaving any if you did &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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